Faced with severe issues regarding human rights, such as prison camps and threats of harsh censorship, many North Koreans choose to become refugees to escape the inhumane totalitarian regime. In 2010, the number of North Korean refugees in South Korea marked 20,000, recording a notable increase from year 2000. On the way to South Korea, North Korean refugees create routes across China, Mongolia, Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand, hoping to reach the mainland alive. However, such journey is not promising – it may involve loss of loved ones, separation from family members, repatriation, and in extreme cases, death. In order to prevent the vicious cycle of such dehumanizing process, light of human rights must be shone upon them.

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About

Originally from Seoul, South Korea, I am currently a student at Miss Porter’s School. I am interested in North Korean Human Rights issues, as they are crucial to a step toward reunification of Korea. I was inspired by the efforts of a non-profit organization called LiNK (Liberty in North Korea) and Citizens’ Alliance for North Korean Human Rights (a non-profit organization in Korea), as they focus on raising funds to rescue North Korean refugees and pushing for advancement in human rights. Even at this minute, a great number of North Koreans is suffering from immense hunger, indescribable, unspeakable fear, and from extreme isolation. I have started small in order to reach a big goal. As LiNK’s motto implies, I would like to focus on people of North Korea and their advances in human rights. In order to achieve that goal, I have begun to share pieces of North Korean people through articles and videos. I have invited LiNK to my very own school for a documentary screening to spread awareness of the humanitarian crisis in North Korea to my community. I hope someday, these efforts of myself, and all the others who share the same ideals accumulate and culminate in a solid foundation for North Korean Human Rights, ultimately leading to a peaceful, steady reunification of the two Korea’s.